Tice defends convicted Reform MP amid Farage’s ‘near catastrophe’ vetting claim

Richard Tice has said a Reform UK MP convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend 18 years ago will not be suspended and would pass the party’s new vetting process.

The deputy leader said James McMurdock was someone who had “got things wrong, learnt from it and has grown and succeeded”.

The former investment banker did not publicly disclose his conviction for assault before being elected, and claimed he had “pushed” his partner when details were first disclosed this summer.

However, The Times later obtained information about his sentencing from the courts, which said he was detained for 21 days in a young offender institution for kicking the victim “around four times” in 2006 when he was a teenager.

Speaking after a party rally in north-west Essex, Mr Tice told the PA news agency: “We’re a Christian nation and part of Christianity is about faith, it’s about trust but it’s also about forgiveness.

“We’re all sinners, we all make mistakes, and James by his own admission made a mistake, a bad mistake, but actually he did his time.

“So the system works. He was sentenced, he did his time, paid the price and now he’s shown a great example of someone who had a bad start with a bad mistake but look how well he’s done.

“And what that shows actually is, we can forgive and we learn from things, but people can succeed. And I think that’s really important.”

When asked if Mr McMurdock, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, could ever face suspension for his conviction, Mr Tice responded: “The opposite.

“He’s doing brilliantly and he’s a shining example of someone who’s worked hard, got a lovely family.

“His wife’s pregnant literally as we speak, with a new baby on its way, and to be an MP is a great privilege, and we’re very proud of him and he’s doing a great job.

“(He’s) really really focused on his constituents and it’s another success story.

“Someone who made a mistake, got things wrong, learnt from it and has grown and succeeded, taken a risk coming into politics and good on him. He’s put his head above the parapet and we’re very proud of him.”

Speaking at the rally on Friday, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage conceded the vetting of candidates had been “probably quite near a catastrophe” in past elections, after several were dropped for making sexist remarks and using racial slurs.

But Mr Tice said he was confident Mr McMurdock would still pass Reform’s new vetting process, a system he has described as “getting better and better”.

He added: “We had many, many, great candidates but some candidates let us down. We had a vetting company that completely let us down, which is why we had some challenges.

“But to put it in context, the Green Party, at the general election they had to withdraw support from ten candidates. You never read about that in the press and I wonder why.

“So every party is worried about vetting. Every party is doing their best on vetting, it’s like an MOT. It’s good at the time you do it.

“But if someone then goes out the following day, has a bad day and says or types something daft at the wrong moment. It’s a never-ending process but yes of course we’re getting better and better and that’s a really important thing.”

Mr Farage compared Reform UK’s rise in the polls with Donald Trump’s presidential victory in the US, as the party squared up to the Tories with the rally in their leader Kemi Badenoch’s constituency.

The rally, which heard speeches from four of Reform’s five MPs, followed a spat between Conservative Party leader Mrs Badenoch and Mr Farage over party membership figures during the Christmas period.

Mr Farage told Reform members on Friday that the Tories “should be bloody scared of you” as he spoke about the argument with Mrs Badenoch.

The rally comes as polling suggests the party has pulled level with, and possibly overtaken, the Conservatives.

A Techne UK poll has put Reform in second place with 24%, one point ahead of the Conservatives on 23% and two points behind first-placed Labour on 26%.